• @uservoid1
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    1522 months ago

    Never heard of it so I had to look

    https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/eighty-six-meaning-origin

    Eighty-six is slang meaning “to throw out,” “to get rid of,” or “to refuse service to.” It comes from 1930s soda-counter slang meaning that an item was sold out. There is varying anecdotal evidence about why the term eighty-six was used, but the most common theory is that it is rhyming slang for nix.

      • @Carrolade
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        372 months ago

        That was my experience as well. Though we would also refer to a banned customer as “86’d.”

        • @CascadianGiraffe
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          42 months ago

          Same meaning in my experience. The patron is kicked out. 86’d is the past tense. ‘they have been 86’d’

          You no longer have any of that product, ingredient, or in this case customer.

        • @CascadianGiraffe
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          52 months ago

          No, “86 the chef special” means 'kitchen is out of chef special.

          Yes, your task is to remove it from the menu.

          But you aren’t 86ing it.

          You’re marking it as 86’d because the quantity is below minimum threshold (usually zero).

        • 𝕸𝖔𝖘𝖘
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          22 months ago

          str 86;

          str itmTo86;

          86='get rid of';

          info(strFmt('%1 %2',86,itmTo86));

          (This won’t actually work, since you can’t assign ints as variables, but whatever. It was fun)

      • Captain Aggravated
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        112 months ago

        In a workshop environment I’ve heard “86 it” to mean “get rid of it.” synonymous with “shitcan it.”

        • @HomerianSymphony
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          2 months ago

          And that’s the joke behind Agent 86’s number on Get Smart. He’s a bad agent, and someone should have gotten rid of him.

    • @xXSirDanglesXx
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      42 months ago

      I heard/read years ago “86ing” came from the old west referring to killing somebody. You’d take them “80 miles out” and bury them “6 feet deep.”

      • @[email protected]
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        22 months ago

        This right here is my truth. If 80 miles out & 6 feet deep is wrong, than I don’t wanna be right. Always loved this expression and origin story.